Kessler explained that HBO not only considers companies like Netflix and Hulu to be competitors, but that the company also believes that “cord cutting” is a “temporary phenomenon” that will disappear as the U.S. economy improves. The idea of licensing its content to other services, he said, isn’t one that the company would seriously consider because the company considers content, and not licensing, to be its core revenue source.

This isn’t the first time that Netflix and HBO have butted heads; despite rumors of a content partnership earlier this year, HBO has remained firmly against the idea of making its shows available digitally for anyone who isn’t already paying for the HBO family of channels. (Subscribers can access the shows via HBO Go, which is available via browser, phone and iPad, as well as through Dish Network and Roku’s online services.)

The two companies were also in competition for the rights to David Fincher’s House of Cards series, with Netflix ultimately coming out on top–a rare public failure for HBO.